


comforting your cold heart

by sureimiku



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Snow, hand holding, kissing of cheeks, post-epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 23:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17150897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sureimiku/pseuds/sureimiku
Summary: With the street lights dimmed from the heavy snow, it definitely created a warm mood for the holidays. Of course, the princess couldn't just sit in while the city was transforming.





	comforting your cold heart

**Author's Note:**

> i was assigned @holysong on twitter for this year's tales secret santa! i had a lot of fun with your prompts and writing this, i hope you enjoy it! happy holidays ♡

 

Baticul was always a beautiful city. But it became even more breathtaking during winter when the streets became topped with white, windows lined with icicles, and buildings adorned with all sorts of shining lights. With the street lights dimmed from the heavy snow, it definitely created a warm mood for the holidays. Of course, the princess couldn't just sit in while the city was transforming.

So she rummaged through her drawers for the warmest clothes she could find to overcome the cold. After getting herself ready, she had to find someone to drag along with her, as wandering around the streets alone wasn't as fun. Lucky for her, she knew just the person to ask. 

"For the 5th time Natalia, I don't want to go."

"Please? I really think you'd enjoy it," she insisted, her face turning into a frown.

"Why don't you just find someone else to take? I don't know, like the dreck or Tear. They'd be interested." 

"You don't understand, Asch..." Natalia sighed. "I'm sure they'd agree, but I really wanted to at least spend some time with you before the holidays are over. Especially since you're finally back home, I thought it'd make your coming back nice." It’d been a few months since him and Luke returned, and since then Natalia busied herself getting them used to everything again. After all, it’d been 3 years….

The redhead sighed, this time heavier than Natalia's. It wasn’t a sigh of annoyance, but rather one saying “fine-I’ll-go-with-you”. He arose from the bed he was lying on and headed to grab his coat. 

"I suppose just a little time out would be fine. Just not too long."

Natalia's face lit up, her light green eyes practically smiling. For the first time in what seemed ages, she'd gotten Asch to do something with her. Donning her tan boots, she glanced at the god general waiting for her.

 "You won't be cold in that?" she asked, surveying his appearance: he'd only really thrown on an oversized coat over his clothes, along with some black gloves— compared to herself, she questioned if she had gone overboard.

 "I'll be fine. The cold doesn't really bother me anyway." Opening the door for her, the pair head out.

 

—

 

The walk towards town was rather quiet, much to Natalia's anticipation. She found it rather hard to start a conversation― whenever she did start one, it didn't last very long. Ever since the Luke and Asch came back, it’d been easy to talk with Luke, but not so much the other. She knew part of the reason, but refused to accept it. Natalia wondered if Asch just agreed earlier just to make her feel better, so she decided to speak up one more time, but was unexpectedly cut off. “I―”

“They really went out with decorating Baticul this year, huh.”

The princess quickly nodded, hiding her embarrassment. “Ah, yes… everyone really does love the holidays, I’d say it’s their favorite time of the year.” Trying to keep the conversation from fading, she added, “We have more decorations for Christmas than anything else. You should see how many boxes there were.”

“Is that so,” he replied, letting out a small smile. “It looks nice.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

 From that point on, Natalia figured maybe Asch really did want to join her. Their conversation carried on until they reached the center of the city, even more adorned with lights and a grand Christmas tree to finish it off. It had become much colder as time passed, almost to the point where one would expect snow flurries. This became evident when Natalia noticed the redhead slightly shaking, along with an unpleasant facial expression.

 “Were you lying about being fine?”

 “N-no. I thought it wouldn’t be this cold.” He shivered as a cold gust of wind hit his face. “It’s not a problem worth fussing over though.”

 Natalia didn’t hesitate in taking off her scarf and now wrapping it around the shivering man. She was warm enough already and didn’t mind sharing that warmth.

 “Wh―” he started, his cheeks turning a light pink.

 “It should warm you up at least a little. You can keep it, consider it a thank-you gift for coming along.”

 He groaned in defeat and hid his face. The cloth had the scent of roses, one he didn’t mind in particular. It was warm already from its previous owner, knitted with a dark green to match his coat. Asch was glad he hid his face fast, because now his cheeks were burning red, not only from the heat, but from the fact Natalia gave him _her_ scarf, so unexpectedly and fast to process.

 “You didn’t have to do that,” he blurted out. “But I’ll admit….it’s rather warm.” He stopped himself there because he didn’t want to embarrass himself by saying something wrong.

 They continued their walk, once again silent because of what happened moments ago. The air around them felt tense and led to Natalia thinking maybe she shouldn’t have done that, she didn’t even think before taking action. It had been quiet for a quite a while, the only sound around them being the chatter of townspeople. She hated having unpleasant thoughts all the time, which made her feel negatively about herself. _He probably thinks I’m too clingy. Maybe even forceful or annoying.  Maybe I shouldn’t have gone out today. Maybe we should just head back..._

 She became so lost in thought that she didn’t realize what was happening in front of her. The crowd of people stopping in their tracks and looking up at the sky. _Snow…_ It had snowed earlier, so she wasn’t expecting any more to fall. Natalia gazed up and felt her worry dissipate. Eyes full of wonder, she felt herself lost in the beautiful sight from above, letting go of the intrusive thoughts. She suddenly snapped out of it because she forgot she was with Asch.

 So she turned to face him,

But he was lost himself. Not in the snow, but in the beauty in front of him; her blonde strands tucked neatly behind, her olive eyes glistening, her light pink cheeks complimenting her pale skin.

 This time, he was the one lost in thought.

  _God, he was so in love with her._

It didn’t take long to realize the same pair of olive eyes staring back at him. He drew back as fast as he could and stuttered while trying to find the right words to apologize, but it seemed that wasn’t necessary, for Natalia was admiring the other half as well. _His_ crimson strands that fell so carelessly, his intense emerald eyes, and how tender he looked, which showed rarely.

“Na—“ he started, but was interrupted by a finger being put to his lips.

“You’re thinking the same thing as me, aren’t you….” 

He nodded yes, as there was no point in hiding it anymore. Suddenly, it felt like the tenderness in the air had disappeared, causing his thoughts to shift.

 “Natalia, I’m glad you and I were able to spend some time together today. He paused for a moment, inhaling sharply. “I...” he trailed off.

 She hummed a yes in agreement, with a smile now replacing her worry. She didn’t need to hear the rest. She shifted her position so that her forehead was touching Asch’s.

 

 _“I love you.”_  

 

She finally said it. After all these years, those 3 simple words reached Asch. “...I’ve loved you for so long. Since we were children. It’s wrong of me to assume those words mean no more to you, but…”

 But that wasn’t the case, the god general confessing “I do too.” He continued. “There were many times I wanted to let go of it all...but there was just one thing I couldn’t forget.”

And with that, he took his hand and placed it in Natalia’s, who in return tightened their grip. Their fingers intertwined, now putting their confessions into play. Natalia’s fingers, gentle and much smaller than Asch’s, whose in contrast felt rough yet comforting—the same hand the princess held years ago.

“You don’t mind if we spend the rest of the night like this, right?”

 “Of course I don’t.”

And with that, he closed the gap a little bit, leaning in to plant a kiss on her cheek. It was rather fast, but at the same time tender, something one would never expect from a person like Asch. Natalia returned the action, hers also light and affectionate.

 _A god general and a princess._ No one would expect that, but the bond between the two of them would be one to last forever.

 The two of them finally decided to stroll a bit more, stopping at countless shops and pointing out their favorite decorations. They felt more comfortable around each other, making their night a memorable one. And for the first time in ages, the both of them had one of the best holidays they could ever hope for.


End file.
